Two of my classes made pictures frames like these: They turned out really cute and I did not take pictures until after the kids glued their pictures in, so I did not want to post any of the frames with their pictures in it. This year, I did not do too many holiday art projects, but here is a round-up of some that I have done in the past. Sock Snowmen  Snowflakes with Glitter Snowglobe Pictures Picture Frame with Tooling … Read more…
The fourth-sixth graders made these glass fused pendants. We are gluing the “bails” on the back to make necklaces. The kids are going to give these as holiday gifts to a family member or friend. They each made two pendants. This is the first time I have done fused glass with kids. I used the how-to guides from the System 96 website and ordered the glass from Delphi glass. Have you done fused glass in your kiln before? If so, … Read more…
This is a great project that ties together math, art, and social studies. We looked at the repeating patterns and shapes in Islamic tile designs (they are studying Islam in social studies) for inspiration. The tutorial for this project is in a blogpost I made earlier. The only difference is that this year we used light tables to trace the image through the triangles.
Are you wondering what to get a child in your family for the holidays? As an art teacher, I see what the kids really like and what they gravitate towards to when they are given free time in art. These are some popular items for kids that I have personally used and recommend. Most of these can be found at your local Target or Michaels (or other craft/art store). Don’t forget to print off a coupon online if you are … Read more…
The 5th and 6th grade students set up still life arrangements and drew them from observation. We discussed composition and creating interest within a picture. The students tried to draw some objects with a variety of heights and sizes. They were to make sure that 2-3 lines went off the edge of the page. We viewed a slideshow of many examples of still life paintings from various artists throughout art history. Then, the students outlined their drawing and filled in … Read more…
 We made Treasure Boxes at an after school art class that I taught this month. The students were in grades K-6 (about 12 kids).  I picked up cigar boxes from a local shop and the kids were able to decorate them with the plethora of supplies I had. We used wall paper scraps, wrapping paper, magazines, stickers, scrapbook papers…. colored tape… Each kid could decorate the box however they wanted. I showed them pictures of Joseph Cornell‘s mysterious … Read more…
 5th/6th grade Castle Drawings The 5th and 6th graders have been studying the Medieval time period in their Social Studies class. For this project, the 5th and 6th graders looked at pictures of castles and drew their own castle using pencil and pens. Then, they added watercolor washes to the picture. Some of the students discovered that it looks really nice when the castle is left white.
The 5th/6th grade class has been carving stamps from soft cut blocks. They used acrylic paints to print their stamps on muslin cloth! The students read about the African Adinkra symbol stamps and created their own symbol.
Every year, students in grades 5-8 participate in a local contest called the Yahara River Writers Contest. There are categories in poetry, editorials and editorial cartoons. In art class, we study editorial cartoons. We analyze cartoons for their use of exaggeration, symbolism, irony and point of view. Cartoons for the Classroom has an amazing selection of lesson plans for studying editorial cartoons. There are over 200 printable cartoons with questions and explanations about them. We also watch this video The … Read more…
Our 5/6 class is going to host a Madrigal Dinner, complete with musical acts. The music teacher asked us to make decorations for the dinner. The kids each made their own Coat of Arms. We read a little bit about the significance of Coat of Arms and the symbols used. The children then drew their own Coat of Arms with symbols and designs that represented themselves and their family. Then, we assembled them all on to long banners of blue … Read more…
The 5/6s were developing their fine motor skills and hand-eye coordination through observational drawing of a still-life. Their goal for this unit was to use proportion, overlap and pattern to create a unified composition of a still-life. They viewed a slide show presentation of a variety of still life artworks.  Step One: Arrange a still life set up. Kids should work collaboratively at their table to do so.Step Two: Draw your picture with pencil first. The objects must touch at … Read more…
@font-face { font-family: “Cambria”; }p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal { margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 12pt; font-family: “Times New Roman”; }div.Section1 { page: Section1; } GRAPHIC DESIGN By the 5/6s How is design used in daily life?  What do graphic designers create?  How can we investigate a variety of symbols and fonts?   How can we use appropriate symbols, colors and fonts to represent ourselves visually?  The 5/6s read Scholastic Art magazine about Robert Indiana and his designs. Careers in art were … Read more…
The 5th/6th graders have been studying Medieval art and we viewed a powerpoint about stained glass windows in cathedrals. The students use glass stain on pieces of plexiglass to make their own picture. We first drew the lines on a piece of paper. Then, we placed the plexiglass on top of the paper. They painted their black lines first and let them dry. Then they use the glass paint to color in the areas.Â
The 5/6s visited the Chazen Art Museum to see Medieval illuminated manuscripts. These delicate and decorative books were amazing! The students designed their own illuminated letter using inspiration from the illuminated manuscripts they observed. Weused pencil, watercolor paints, colored pencils and gold inks on parchment paper.
Well, I haven’t updated since this past Sunday, so I will briefly tell you what I’ve been up to.. parent-teacher conferences were on Tuesday. We are in the middle of various projects… monochromatic rhythm paintings (which are awesome and I will share with you later)… Rainbow Fish paintings, bird paintings, American landscape paintings.. wow, I guess we are doing a lot of paintings now. The 4/5s are doing a mosaic/fresco project which I will show you when we are further … Read more…
